It Aint Over!!!

Many Americans are encumbered with optimism by the historical election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the Western Free World. Some people, black and white, believe that the election marked the onslaught of Armageddon for racism in America. Black’s are holding on tight to the mirage formulating in the distance that the paradigm of race in America has truly shifted. While White’s are under the guise that Black’s no longer have any excuse not to thrive in the greatest democracy and economic power known to man. Unfortunately while these day dreamers are lost in translation Blacks continue to be the object of racist doings every single day.

I cannot and will not ignore the progress that America and some of its citizens have made in the last 50 years as it pertains to race relations. However, even in my own youth find it appalling that my living parents and grandparents maturated during a time in America where hate pulsated throughout this country. The success of Blacks was stifled by laws and racist societal pedagogy.

Fast forward to the year 2009 and even with a man who identifies himself as an African American serving as president, we still have not reached the much talked about promise land. Notwithstanding the facts surrounding the arrest of prominent scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. I am disgusted and disturbed by the comments my fellow man. Several are quick to dismiss claims of racial profiling and hail jokes of calling off Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton before things get out of hand. Others frantically try to defend one the shining jewels of the African American population. I in the midst of all this ambiguity and discourse I find myself contemplating a few things: First, is it possible for two people to be neighbors and mistake each other for a burglar? Second, should society not see anything wrong with that? Third, will “we have a black president for goodness sake” always be the response from the majority when a racial injustice occurs or a Black person makes a mistake?

I then find myself having a mental argument on whether or not racism has change drastically since the most memorable Tuesday in my lifetime. After only a few seconds I conclusively say no. This finality of thoughts is based on firsthand accounts of racism. Just three months ago I witnessed a white office arrest three black men on a crowded sidewalk outside the front door of a closing bar crawling with nearly 400 drunken non-African American patrons. I guess they were in the “wrong place” or perhaps they were significantly more intoxicated than all of their white counter parts. Then I recollect a mere two days ago as I exited the law school and had a white gentleman shout at me and several of my classmates, “all the white girls were dating all the niggers. You niggers.” I refrained from responding and encouraged my African American classmates to let it go. I secretly wanted to respond, but honestly feared a confrontation would result in my own trip downtown. Ironically, the gentleman was arrested and as my classmate looked on he shouted to the police officer he called us niggers. Unfortunately, the police office had very little interest in my classmate’s feelings and quickly dismissed his comment.

I know things are a lot better than they have been, but this place is still not perfect. Racism is not dead. Hate still inhabits the hearts of millions of people. White privileged is real and Black oppression weighs heavy on the lives of Black America. Keep on Pushing and Protect the Investment.

Been a long time, I shouldn't have left you!!

I have been absent from my own blog for quite some time. I apologize to myself and to what few readers I may have for such an extended period of neglect.

Over the past year a lot has changed in my life. I begin and will soon be ending a 10 month agreement where I worked as a Graduate Assistant in Fraternity & Sorority Life at IUPUI in Indianapolis, IN. It was an amazing experience that I will reflect upon frequently over the course of my life.

As things pertain to academics; I realized that Higher Education Student Affairs, while an intriguing career path, it was not and I do not anticipate it ever becoming my life-long passion or purpose in life.

Since January of 2008 I have been actively pursuing admission into one of our nations many distinguished law schools. It was indeed a very challenging process managing my current graduate work, family, friends, and preparing to be successful in the law school admissions process. I solicited the help of friends currently enrolled in law school, administrators/professors from my undergraduate institution, and various attorneys. Dr. Everette Freeman, Natalece Washington, Ms. Sharon "Nyota" Tucker, Mr. Maurice Elliard and few other who I am not sure would like to have their names mentioned were extremely instrumental in my success as an applicant.

Fast forward to May of 2009 and I graduated with a Master's of Science in Education from Indiana University-Bloomington. I have also managed to somehow finagle my way into the #23 law school in the nation Indiana University Maurer School of Law class of 2012.

My most recent accomplishments have opened my eyes to a number of amazing personal revelation about my own life and life in general. The first being that everything happens for a reason. I would often question my own logic for enrolling into a graduate program I new very little about and traveling to a region of the country that is far from similar to the area of south Georgia that I call home. However, I have come to appreciate the distance Indiana University created between myself and every distraction that prevented me from pursuing my dreams of going to law school. I have also come to appreciate the knowledge obtained through the HESA program at IU. I have learned a great about my own personal development as a young person and have begun to use it as catapult towards my future of greatness.

As the summer draws to a close I reflect on my participation in the Indiana CLEO program for minority soon to be first year law students. I have the utmost respect for all the individuals who make this program available. Through the ICLEO program I have dined with the Chief Justice, chatted with the first African American woman to sit on the Indiana Supreme Court, and shook hands with members of the most prestigious law firm in Indianapolis. Growing up I would always tell folks I wanted to be an attorney and as a matured that turned into a Super Sports Agent. However, after participating in ICLEO my eyes are open to all the opportunities the legal profession has to offer.

Most importantly I have an even better understanding of how important it is to give back to the community, any community, and help get some more of our youth into law school. Their experiences will help shape the future of our country. We need to encourage our friends young and old to seek higher education so that we can be able recipients of the nations push for diversity.

Keep on pushin and and Protect the Investment!!!

Secondly, I have come to appreciate Gods promise. He has plans for his people that we often mess up by thinking we can deviate from the master plan if you will. A sermon here in Indiana helped me better understand our ongoing battle with fear and insecurities

Keep the Body, Take the Mind

Son you want to go to college someday, don't you? Well if you do this is your ticket! Every chance you get go to the weight room, run some sprints, jump some rope, and take 1,000 jump shots with each of your hands. As long as you run faster, jump higher, and shoot better than everyone else you can go to any college you want, for FREE!!!! Just make sure you PASS all your classes and do OK on the SAT or ACT, and you are a sure thing. The aforementioned is the dream that both Black and White coaches sell our young African American children day in and day out. This is also the dream that our Black families neglect to thwart, day in and day out, with hopes of a meal ticket seasoned with a dash of glitz and glamor. The infamous Willie Lynch letter proposed a plan to keep the Negro slave in a proverbial captivity. This West Indian slave owners plan included the perpetuation of hate and discrimination among slaves, based on the lightness and darkness of the skin, and whether they worked in the big house or in the fields. Lynch also proposed a plan to "Keep the body, Take the mind." This plan emphasized the strengthening of the Negro's physical capabilities with a complete disregard for mental growth and development. Lynch believed that no matter how much brawn the Negro attained, his destiny remained in the hands of those who controlled his very way of thinking. Taking the advice of the Willie Lynch doctrine slave owners began using slaves as entertainment in a variety of athletic events, including brutal, physical altercations. Adding insult to injury slave owners manipulated slaves into believing there was honor in competing in these contest, which evolved into monetary bets between plantation owners. The concept of weakening the mental prowess of the enslaved Negro served as the precursor of the modern collegiate sports industry, the NFL, and the NBA.

Ironically, the relentless pursuit of "success" through athletics has never really done much, collectively, for our people. Sure, a select group of individuals have broken "color barriers," which did not exist prior to the 20th century when African American athletes wore the true international crowns in cycling, boxing, horse racing, and baseball. Yea, the victory of one has given millions the hope and pleasure of besting our Anglo-Saxon adversaries. Yes, a small percentage of the African American population has reached insurmountable financial heights by scoring touchdowns and shooting three-pointers, but what has that done to collectively advance our people. With the utmost respect and admiration to all the amazing athletes living their dreams in the professional ranks, I must say that the hoop dreams spawned from the hateful initiative to control the Negro until the end of time must be censored. The majority of African American progress has and will continue to be fueled by the pursuit of education. Knowledge, the one thing that has given us access to politics, business, our own colleges and universities, a Greek fraternity system (which needs our help) that has truly helped to shape American history, the entertainment industry, and an endless amount of opportunities to affect positive change. We neglect to inform our youth that there are more African American Doctors, lawyers, surgeons, judges, politicians, and CEO's than there are professional athletes. In order to ensure that our people have a strong, prosperous future we must begin to shape the dreams of our children in a much different manner. We must renew the spirit of tenacity possessed by Douglass, Mary McLeod Bethune, Laney, Booker T. Washington, and O. Equiano. We must reconnect the disconnect from our past. "A people without knowledge of its past, history, origin, or culture is like a tree without roots," Marcus Garvey. We have honestly come to far from the days of Sunday school in Savannah, Georgia to which evolved into schools in Augusta, Georgia, which then evolved into Fisk, Atlanta University, and Howard. We began the march toward liberation so long ago that it doesn't make much sense not to continue to seek and demand freedom in every sense of the word.

Ignorance is Bliss

Today marks the official end of my first semester as a graduate student. In my transition from the Southern United States to the Mid-west I have experienced a great deal. Some of the those experiences have been negative and others extremely positive. However, in spite of the experiences degree of positivity or negativity I have become a more complex individual. As I maneuver through life I have come to the realization that knowledge is a key factor in complexity. In fact knowledge provides individuals who seek and successfully attain it, a view of life from an amazing vantage point. This view which transcends dimensions reeks of commitment and responsibility which is often ignored. As one so fortunately obtains a breath of knowledge it will make life much more complex and cause you to analyze that which you would otherwise consider trivial. With the ability to see what others cannot, a responsibility to enlighten and liberate others from the prison of ignorance should finds its way onto your agenda. Unfortunately, the "talented tenth" has a tendency to neglect effectively communicating our shortcomings or provide a solution. Post civil rights the intellectuals of our race often hoard the knowledge as if were created for there use alone, or utilize precious intellectual riches to advance a personal agenda. Selfishness perpetuates poverty, imprisonment of our men, and the mis education of our youth. In pursuit of advanced degrees and ultimately greatness we must acknowledge the need to give back. Without drawing the masses a road map to liberation and enlightenment through education our people will continue to wonder aimlessly in the wilderness of mediocrity. We must answer the call to leadership and begin to close this gap in achievement or continue to self destruct. The intended purpose of this blog is to share my knowledge, thoughts, and opinions on the plight of my people, BLACK PEOPLE. Liberation one word at a time!!!! Keep on pushing!!!